Devanagari
एक एवेश्वरस्तुर्यो भगवान् स्वाश्रय: पर: ।
तमदृष्ट्वाभवं पुंस: किमसत्कर्मभिर्भवेत् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
eka eveśvaras turyo
bhagavān svāśrayaḥ paraḥ
tam adṛṣṭvābhavaṁ puṁsaḥ
kim asat-karmabhir bhavet
Synonyms
ekaḥ
—
one
;
eva
—
indeed
;
īśvaraḥ
—
supreme controller
;
turyaḥ
—
the fourth transcendental category
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
sva
—
āśrayaḥ — independent, being His own shelter
;
paraḥ
—
beyond this material creation
;
tam
—
Him
;
adṛṣṭvā
—
not seeing
;
abhavam
—
who is not born or created
;
puṁsaḥ
—
of a man
;
kim
—
what benefit
;
asat
—
karmabhiḥ — with temporary fruitive activities
;
bhavet
—
there can be .
Translation
[Nārada Muni had said that there is a kingdom where there is only one male. The Haryaśvas realized the purport of this statement.] The only enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who observes everything, everywhere. He is full of six opulences and fully independent of everyone else. He is never subject to the three modes of material nature, for He is always transcendental to this material creation. If the members of human society do not understand Him, the Supreme, through their advancement in knowledge and activities, but simply work very hard like cats and dogs all day and night for temporary happiness, what will be the benefit of their activities?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Not seeing or not worshipping the Supreme Lord who is the one person in the universe, who is beyond the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, and who releases the devotees from bondage, what is the use of insubstantial karma-yoga for man?
This verse explains “one kingdom with one person.” Turyaḥ refers to that fourth state different from waking (viśva), dreaming (taijasa) and deep sleep states (prājṣā). The kingdom is the universe. Abhavam means the Lord by whom saṁsāra does not exist for the devotees. “Not seeing the Lord” means “not perceiving him through worship.” One should therefore worship him.
Purport
Nārada Muni had mentioned a kingdom where there is only one king with no competitor. The complete spiritual world, and specifically the cosmic manifestation, has only one proprietor or enjoyer — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond this material manifestation. The Lord has therefore been described as
turya,
existing on the fourth platform. He has also been described as
abhava.
The word
bhava,
which means “takes birth,” comes from the word
bhū,
“to be.” As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.19)
,
bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate:
the living entities in the material world must be repeatedly born and destroyed. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is neither
bhūtvā
nor
pralīyate;
He is eternal. In other words, He is not obliged to take birth like human beings or animals, which repeatedly take birth and die because of ignorance of the soul. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is not subjected to such changes of body, and one who thinks otherwise is considered a fool (
avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
). Nārada Muni advises that human beings not waste their time simply jumping like cats and monkeys, without real benefit. The duty of the human being is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.